- confidence
- con|fi|denceW2S2 [ˈkɔnfıdəns US ˈka:n-] n▬▬▬▬▬▬▬1¦(feeling somebody/something is good)¦2¦(belief in yourself)¦3¦(feeling something is true)¦4 gain/win/earn somebody's confidence5¦(keep information secret)¦6 take somebody into your confidence7¦(a secret)¦▬▬▬▬▬▬▬1.) ¦(FEELING SOMEBODY/SOMETHING IS GOOD)¦[U]the feeling that you can trust someone or something to be good, work well, or produce good resultsconfidence in▪ Our first priority is to maintain the customer's confidence in our product.▪ The survey reveals a general lack of confidence in the police.▪ She had complete confidence in the young nurse.▪ Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the administration.▪ the school's campaign to win back the confidence of local parents▪ The Bank immediately took action to restore confidence .▪ These miscarriages of justice have undermined confidence in our legal system.▪ Public confidence in the government is at an all-time low.▪ Surveys indicate an improvement in business confidence .2.) ¦(BELIEF IN YOURSELF)¦[U]the belief that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfullyconfidence in▪ Minton is an outstanding boxer, with tremendous confidence in his own ability.▪ I didn't have any confidence in myself.lack confidence/be lacking in confidence▪ She's a good student, but she lacks confidence.▪ Living on her own in a foreign country for a year gave her a lot of confidence .confidence to do sth▪ Good training will give a beginner the confidence to enjoy skiing.gain (in)/lose confidence▪ You do lose confidence when you spend years and years at home with children.sb's confidence is growing/sb is growing in confidence▪ I felt I was doing well and my confidence began to grow.boost/increase etc sb's confidence(=make someone feel more confident)shake/damage etc sb's confidence(=make someone feel less confident)▪ Julie's confidence was badly shaken by her car accident.with confidence▪ Our goal is to prepare students to go into the business world with confidence.3.) ¦(FEELING SOMETHING IS TRUE)¦[U]the feeling that something is definite or truesay/speak/predict etc with confidence▪ How can anyone say with confidence that the recession is over?confidence in▪ I have complete confidence in Mr Wright's analysis of the situation.have confidence (that)▪ I have every confidence that the job will be completed satisfactorily on time.4.) gain/win/earn sb's confidenceif you gain someone's confidence, they begin to trust you▪ After a discouraging start, the young priest had begun to win the confidence of the villagers.5.) ¦(KEEP INFORMATION SECRET)¦[U]if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them something on the understanding that they will not tell anyone else→↑confide in confidence▪ I'll tell you about Moira - in confidence, of course.in strict/the strictest confidence▪ Any information given during the interview will be treated in the strictest confidence .breach of confidence(=when someone tells someone something that they were told in confidence)▪ Lawyers are satisfied that no breach of confidence took place.6.) take sb into your confidenceto tell someone your secrets or private or personal details about your life▪ Elsa took me into her confidence and told me about some of the problems she was facing.7.) ¦(A SECRET)¦a secret or a piece of information that is private or personalshare/exchange confidences▪ They spent their evenings drinking wine and sharing confidences.▪ I have never betrayed a confidence .▬▬▬▬▬▬▬COLLOCATES for sense 1lack of confidencehave confidence in somebody/somethinghave every/complete/absolute confidence in somebody/somethinglose (your) confidence in somebody/somethinggain/win somebody's confidenceincrease confidence (in somebody/something)inspire confidence (in somebody/something) (=make people have confidence)restore confidence (in somebody/something) (=bring back people's confidence)destroy/shatter (somebody's) confidence (in somebody/something)undermine (somebody's) confidence (in somebody/something) (=make someone have less confidence)public confidencebusiness confidence (=when businesses think the economic situation is good)consumer confidence (=when ordinary people think the economic situation is good)▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.